Clothes Iron With Means For Inducing Orbital Oscillatory Motion Into the Sole Plate

ABSTRACT

A clothes iron comprises a body ( 2 ) and a sole plate ( 3 ). The body ( 2 ) is supported on the sole plate ( 3 ) by means of laterally resilient springs ( 4 ). The springs permit sideways movement of the sole plate ( 3 ) relative to the body ( 2 ). A motor ( 8 ) has a shaft ( 9 ) that carries an eccentric portion ( 10 ) which is received within a socket provided in the upper face of the sole plate. Thus, operation of the motor will cause the sole plate to execute orbital oscillatory motion relative to the body, in the plane of the face of the sole plate.

This invention relates to an improved clothes iron and, in the preferredembodiment, provides a clothes iron which produces an enhanced ironingeffect with a reduction in user effort, as compared with conventionalclothes irons. Although the iron in the present invention will be hereinreferred to as the “clothes iron” it is to be understood that the ironmay be used for purposes other than ironing clothes, for example, it maybe used for ironing sheets, towels, tablecloths and similar items or maybe used for pressing seams, etc during manufacture of cloth items.

Traditional clothes irons, which may be described as “dry irons” consistof a smooth plate (the sole plate) which is connected to a handle. Thesole plate is heated by suitable means (for example electric heatingelements) to an appropriate temperature and ironing is effected bypressing and/or repeatedly moving back and forth of the sole plateagainst the clothes or other items to be ironed. Whilst such irons canaccomplish the work they require repeated passes and are generallyineffective against cloth items which have dried in a creased state oragainst fabrics the inherent properties of which make them difficult toiron back into a flat state. Also, all irons require a considerableamount of manual effort, in terms of both downward pressure andhorizontal force to work repeatedly over the surface being ironed to getthe desired finish.

With a view to improving the performance of irons, so called “steamirons” have been devised. These consist of essentially the same elementsas a traditional dry iron, but with the addition of a mechanism forcreating steam which flows out through holes provided in the sole plateto assist in the ironing process. Whilst steam irons provide advantagesover dry irons, they nonetheless still require significant effort andwork to remove persistent creases despite the aid of steam.

With a view to improving the performance of an iron it has been proposedin U.S. Pat. No. 5,094,021 to incorporate an ultrasonic generator toproduce ultrasonic movement of the sole plate. However, it is believedthat such an arrangement will not be as effective as the oscillationmotion proposed in the present invention. Also, it is not clear fromU.S. Pat. No. 5,094,021 the mode in which the sole plate is vibrated bythe ultrasonic oscillator. Apparently, the ultrasonic oscillator ismounted on top of the sole plate and in the circumstances it is likelythat any vibratory movement of the sole plate will be perpendicular tothe face of the sole plate.

A further oscillating iron is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 2,080,682. Inthis case, the sole plate is mounted for rotary movement relative to thebody and a motor driven crank is used to rotate the sole plate back andforth relative to the body so that the sole plate makes alternateclockwise and anti-clockwise rotational movements about its rotationalaxis.

I have now devised an improved iron, which may be embodied as a dry ironor a steam iron, which provides significantly improved ironingperformance and/or a significant reduction in the manual effort requiredto effect the ironing of a garment or other cloth item.

In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention a clothesiron comprises: a body; a manually graspable handle secured to the body;a sole plate connected to the body, the sole plate having asubstantially planar face for engaging items to be ironed; and means forinducing orbital oscillatory motion into the sole plate in the plane ofthe face thereof to enhance the performance of the iron.

The term “orbital” as used herein means that when the clothes ironhereof is operating, at least some points on the face of the sole platemove in a closed path from a start position to a displaced position andthen from the displaced position back to the start position withoutre-tracing the route taken during the initial movement from the startposition to the displaced position. The orbital path may be a circularorbital path, a figure of 8 orbital path or indeed any other orbitalpath. The use of an orbital path, in contrast to the simple back andforth movement used in U.S. Pat. No. 2,080,682, produces an enhancedironing performance.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention the sole plate is connectedto the body by flexible coupling means so that the sole plate mayorbitally oscillate in the plane of the face thereof relative to thebody. In a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention theflexible connecting means are elastomeric mouldings, for examplemouldings of a silicone compound. Such mouldings have the requiredproperties as springs and are also effective to provide a degree ofthermal isolation between the sole plate and the body. Alternatively,the flexible connecting means may be laterally resilient butlongitudinally stiff metal or plastic strip springs.

The orbital oscillation generating mechanism is preferably powered by anelectric motor mounted on the body or the handle. Preferably, the motoris positioned remote from the sole plate to reduce the exposure of themotor to the heat of the sole plate. Preferably, airflow ways areprovided to allow a flow of cooling air over and/or through the motor.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention the orbital oscillationgenerating mechanism comprises a motor mounted above the sole plate andattached to the body. Preferably, the motor shaft is perpendicular tothe plane of the lower surface of the sole plate and carries aneccentric extension which engages an appropriate aperture provided inthe sole plate. Accordingly, as the motor shaft is rotated the soleplate executes orbital oscillatory motion in the plane of the facethereof. In a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention themotor shaft carries an eccentric weight to dynamically balance theeccentricity of the eccentric. Accordingly, the orbital oscillationmotion is dynamically balanced to reduce vibration of the body andhandle and only produce orbital oscillatory motion in the sole plategenerated by the eccentric.

The aperture in the sole plate which receives the eccentric ispreferably in the form of the inner race of a parallel-roller bearing,the outer race which is secured to the sole plate. If the eccentric issnugly received in the race the motion of the sole plate will becircular orbital oscillatory motion.

In an alternative embodiment, the eccentric of the shaft is received ina slot or other profile provided in the sole plate (either directly orby means of an adaptor located within the inner race of a bearing). Byappropriately shaping and/or orientation of the slot the form of orbitaloscillatory movement applied to the sole plate can be tailored. Forexample, a figure of 8 orbital oscillatory pattern may be provided by asuitable drive mechanism.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention an attitude and/or motionsensitive switch is incorporated for automatically initiatingoscillation of the sole plate when the iron is tipped from a generallyupright rest position to a generally horizontal use position, and forinterrupting oscillatory movement when the iron is again turned to itsrest position. Means may be provided for manually or automaticallycontrolling the speed of oscillation. For example, a manual switch maybe provided allowing appropriate selection of the motor speed andaccordingly appropriate selection of the oscillatory frequency.Additionally or alternatively, automatic feedback means may be providedfor, for example, increasing the frequency of oscillation in response toincreased downward pressure on the iron handle, or on a manual pressureswitch which when pressed turns on and/or boosts the oscillation to amaximum.

In one embodiment of the invention all downward load applied to the ironwill be reacted onto the surface being ironed via the sole plate.However, in a preferred embodiment of the invention means are providedfor reacting part of the downward imposed load via the sole plate andpart of the downwardly imposed load through one or more support members.The or each support member may project through the sole plate to engagethe surface being ironed or may be positions laterally outside of thesole plate. Alternatively, a combination of support members projectingthrough and located laterally outside of the sole plate may be provided.Provision of support members provides the advantage that the load whichcan be imposed on the sole plate is limited by the flexible couplingsthat connect the sole plate to the body. Excessive downward pressure onthe handle of the iron will be reacted direct onto the surface beingironed through the support members leaving the sole plate free tooscillate under a pre-determined pre-load force generated by theflexible couplings. Such an arrangement helps to prevent excessivevibration being transmitted to the handle of the iron and ensures thatthe oscillation motor is not overloaded.

The invention will be better understood from the following descriptionof preferred embodiments thereof wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an iron in accordance with the presentinvention with the handle and cover removed;

FIG. 2 is a schematic and perspective bottom view of the iron of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a longitudinally cross-sectioned perspective view of the ironof FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a detailed cross-sectional view of a portion of the iron ofFIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view from the base of a second embodiment of theinvention.

Referring firstly to FIGS. 1 to 4 a preferred embodiment of theinvention is illustrated. In the interests of clarity, the handle,electrical wiring to the sole plate elements and motor, the temperaturecontrol mechanism and other conventional parts have been omitted fromthe drawing. As illustrated, the invention is embodied as a dry iron. Itis to be understood, however, that the invention may be embodied as asteam iron by incorporating appropriate steam producing mechanismswithin the body.

The illustrated iron 1 comprises a body 2 and a sole plate 3. The body 2is supported on the sole plate 3 by means of laterally resilient springs4. Typically, in a conventional boat-shaped sole plate three springs 4may be provided, one at the nose 5 of the sole plate and two at the rear6 of the sole plate 3. The springs 4 locate the sole plate 3 relative tothe body 2 but can be resiliently deformed sideways to permit sidewaysmovement of the sole plate 3 relative to the body in the plane of thelower face 7 of the sole plate. The springs are able to transfer loadbetween the body 2 and the sole plate 3 in the direction perpendicularto the plane of the face 7 of the sole plate to allow a user to press onthe sole plate by pressing on a handle which is secured to the body.

In accordance with the invention, means are provided for inducingorbital oscillation motion into the sole plate 3 in the plane of thelower face 7. In the embodiment of FIGS. 1-4 a motor 8 is mounted on thebody 2 or, optionally within the handle. A switch may be provided foractivating/deactivating the motor. Additionally or alternatively anattitude sensitive switch may be provided for automatically deactivatingthe motor when the iron is rotated to place the iron in a rest position.The motor 8 has a shaft 9 that extends perpendicular to the face 7. Itis to be understood, however, that various alternative arrangements arepossible within the scope of the present invention. The shaft 9 carriesan eccentric portion 10 that projects into an aperture provided in thesole plate. In the preferred embodiment, the aperture is provided by theinner race 11 of a parallel-roller bearing 12, the outer race 13 ofwhich is received within a recess of the sole plate. If the eccentricportion is a snug fit in the aperture, as the shaft rotates, the soleplate performs circular orbital oscillatory motion in the plane of theface 7, relative to the body.

In a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, in addition tothe eccentric portion 10, an eccentric weight is provided and positionedto dynamically balance the shaft assembly in order to reduce so far aspossible lateral loading on the shaft bearings accordingly reduce to aminimum the vibrations created or transmitted to the body 2.

In the above described embodiments of the invention the eccentricportion 10 is snugly received within the inner race 12 of a bearing theouter race 13 of which is mounted in the upper surface of the sole plate3. However, other arrangements are possible and in particular bymodifying the nature of the connection between the eccentric portion andthe sole plate the nature of the orbital oscillations transmitted to thesole plate may be varied. By way of example, the eccentric portion maybe located to work in a slot provided in a bush. The bush is secured tothe sole plate by any suitable means. The slot is shorter than the throwof the eccentric portion and as a result the sole plate will perform afigure of 8 orbital oscillations movement. Further, by adjusting theposition of the connection relative to the centre of the sole plate thenature of the orbital oscillatory movement performed by the sole platemay be varied. In particular, by shifting the connection nearer to thenose 5 of the sole plate an arrangement may be produced in which thereis more orbital oscillation at the nose than at the rear, and byshifting the point of connection towards the rear 6 the alternativearrangement in which there is more orbital oscillation at the rear thanat the front can be produced.

In further possible embodiments of the invention the sole plate may besplit into two or more parts with, for example, one side of the baseplate oscillating in a clockwise rotary orbital movement whilst theother side rotates in an anti-clockwise orbital movement, the movementof the two sides being synchronised.

In a further possible embodiment of the invention the sole plate isfilled with a fluid and constructed from flexible material. To this enda rigid sole plate base may be fitted with a thin Kevlar/polymersandwich filled with a suitable fluid, for example colloidal copper orsilver in an oil. The exposed surface of the sandwich may be coated witha low friction material, for example PTFE. Such an arrangement can beprovided with a combination of oscillations and vibrations in any of theabove described manners.

If desired, the whole of the applied load resulting from downwardpressure on the body from the handle may be reacted onto the surfacebeing ironed via the sole plate. However, in the preferred embodiment ofthe invention support members are used to react part of the imposed loadonto the surface being ironed thereby limiting the downward force whichcan be applied to the sole plate. In the embodiment of the inventionillustrated in FIGS. 1-4 the support members are in the form of threemushroom-shaped studs 15,16,17 located respectively one at the nose 5 ofthe sole plate and two at the rear 6 of the sole plate. Conveniently,the studs 15,16,17 may be preformed of a relatively rigid material ontowhich an elastomeric material, for example a silicon material, ismoulded to produce the springs 4.

With the arrangement of support members of FIGS. 1-4, when no downwardload is applied to the iron the entire weight of the iron is supportedon the sole plate. Increased downward pressure on the handle willinitially compress the springs 4 which connect the sole plate to thebody, and the load on the sole plate will increase in proportion to theincreased load applied to the handle. However, once a pre-determinedload has been applied to the handle the support members 15,16,17 willengage the surface being ironed and any further downward load applied tothe handle will be reacted via the support members rather than via thesole plate. Thus, the provision of the support members limits to amaximum the load which is reacted via the sole plate. If the downwardload on the handle is greater than this maximum, part of the load willbe reacted through the sole plate and the balance will be reactedthrough the support members. With such an arrangement if an excessiveload is applied to the handle the sole plate 3 is able to “float”subject to a pre-load determined by the sole plate support springs 4.This arrangement prevents excessive loading of the oscillation motorand, in turn, prevents excessive vibrations being transmitted to thehandle if a high load is applied to the handle in use. This arrangementalso prevents excessive stress being applied to delicate fabrics by theorbital oscillation mechanism.

Referring now to FIG. 5 an alternative embodiment of the invention isshown. In this case, the body 2A has been fitted with a cover and handle18 of substantially conventional form. The sole plate 3A includeslongitudinal curved slots 19,20 through which arcuate support members21,22 project. The support members 21,22 are connected to the body 2A toreact part of any imposed load directly from the body onto the surfacebeing ironed in a similar manner to the studs 15,16,17 of FIGS. 1-4. Inthis case, the iron is embodied as a steam iron with apertures 23provided to direct steam outwardly through the sole plate onto materialbeing ironed in conventional manner. In all other respects, the assemblyof FIG. 5 is functionally the same as that of FIGS. 1-4.

Finally, if desired ancillary means may be provided for enhancing theeffectiveness of the iron. Such ancillary means may, for example,comprise means for emitting steam through apertures in the base plate,means for emitting a spray of water either through apertures in the baseplate or ahead of the nose, and ancillary means for producing highfrequency vibrations of the base plate, for example by means of anultrasonic oscillator.

1. A clothes iron comprises: a body; a manually graspable handle secured to the body; a sole plate connected to the body, the sole plate having a substantially planar face for engaging items to be ironed; and means for inducing orbital oscillatory motion into the sole plate in the plane of the face thereof to enhance the performance of the iron.
 2. A clothes iron according to claim 1 wherein the means for inducing orbital oscillatory motion comprises: a rotary motor mounted in the body or the handle, the motor shaft having an output shaft and eccentric means on the shaft.
 3. A clothes iron according to claim 2 wherein the eccentric means comprises an eccentric portion of the shaft which is received in a socket in the sole plate.
 4. A clothes iron according to claim 3 wherein the eccentric means comprises an eccentric weight mounted on the shaft.
 5. A clothes iron according to claim 3 wherein the eccentric portion of the shaft is received as a snug fit in a socket in the sole plate.
 6. A clothes iron according to claim 5 wherein the socket in the sole plate is provided by the inner race of a bearing, the outer race of which is secured to the sole plate.
 7. A clothes iron according to claim 3 wherein a lost motion connection is provided between the eccentric portion of the shaft and the sole plate.
 8. A clothes iron according to claim 7 wherein the lost motion connection is provided by a slot in which the eccentric works, the slot having a length shorter than the throw of the eccentric so that the sloe plate moves in a figure of 8 pattern as the shaft rotates.
 9. A clothes iron according to claim 1 wherein the sole plate is connected to the body by flexible coupling means so that the sole plate may oscillate in the plane of the face thereof relative to the body.
 10. A clothes iron according to claim 9 wherein the flexible connecting means are resilient connecting means which tend to maintain the sole plate in a predetermined position relative to the body.
 11. A clothes iron according to claim 10 wherein the resilient means comprise laterally resilient elastomeric bodies or laterally resilient springs.
 12. A clothes iron according to claim 1 wherein support means are provided for engaging the surface being ironed to react part of downward load imposed on the iron onto the surface being ironed, the support means being independent of the sole plate and connected to the body.
 13. A clothes iron according to claim 1 wherein an attitude sensitive switch is incorporated for automatically initiating vibration of the sole plate when the iron is tipped from a generally upright rest position to a generally horizontal use position, and for interrupting vibratory movement when the iron is again turned to its rest position.
 14. A clothes iron according to claim 1 wherein means are provided for manually or automatically controlling the speed of oscillation.
 15. A clothes iron according to claim 1 wherein the sole plate comprises a rigid base and a sandwich structure secured to the base, the sandwich structure comprising an envelope filled with a liquid or paste.
 16. A clothes iron according to claim 15 wherein the envelope is of Kevlar and the paste comprises an oil and metal particles.
 17. A clothes iron according to claim 1 including an ultrasonic transducer for inducing ultrasonic waves in the surface of the sole plate that contacts the clothes. 